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Miller Group founder Leo McArthur dies

Miller Group president and CEO Leo McArthur, standing far left, is given a standing ovation after delivering a speech during the grand opening ceremonies of the new Julie McArthur Regional Recreation Centre in this October 2012 file photo. Mr. McArthur died Monday.

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Owen Sound-born Leo McArthur, who rose to prominence as president, CEO and chairman of the board of the multifaceted Miller Group, died Monday after a long illness.

Funeral details remained to be set Tuesday afternoon, but the family intends Mr. McArthur to be brought to Owen Sound next Wednesday for people to pay their respects, after services are held in the Greater Toronto area, son Blair McArthur said.

From a humble upbringing in Owen Sound, Mr. McArthur oversaw a group of companies, including roads, waste management and transportation businesses and which employs more than 4,000 people.

He was proudest of his family, Blair McArthur, a senior vice president in the company, said Tuesday by telephone. And even in business, it wasn't its size which he prized most.

“His legacy is not building a big business but it's about touching so many different people in so many different ways. And it wasn't just with his employees. Leo was a major contributor to the local communities where we lived and worked.”

For example, in Owen Sound he and the family-owned company contributed at least $1 million (the exact amount was undisclosed) to the new Owen Sound YMCA and community recreation centre, which was named in honour of Leo and Helen McArthur's daughter, Julie McArthur, who died in 2007.

Owen Sound Mayor Ian Boddy said Mr. McArthur was “one of the if not the most successful businessmen to ever have come out of the city. As big as his businesses kept getting, his hometown was still Owen Sound and it was still pretty important to him.”

Former Owen Sound Mayor Ruth Lovell Stanners, who worked with and was friends with Mr. McArthur, said “no matter how successful he was, he never forgot his Owen Sound roots. And I found him to be one of the best ambassadors for this city. He was an example of perseverance and hard work.”

Said a longtime friend and Miller Group lawyer, Richard Grant: “Leo was one of a kind. He was a force of nature. He belongs to the ranks of the pre-eminent Canadian entrepreneurs. What Leo did with Miller was increase the size of the enterprise probably by a factor of 40 or 50.”

It's now one of the largest, privately owned waste management companies in Canada.

Leo McArthur in the late 1990s brought Miller into a consortium with three European companies to build the Fredericton to Moncton Highway. It's part of the Trans-Canada Highway and was the first major Canadian public-private initiative by the New Brunswick government.

Now Miller maintains that highway, as it does British Columbia's Sea to Sky Highway, which Miller rebuilt in time for the Vancouver Winter Olympics. The Miller Group is currently part of a consortium bidding to build a new bridge at the Windsor border.

Mr. McArthur was a “fiercely private man,” his son said, and for that reason, Blair McArthur declined to discuss whats claimed his father's life.

He was born to Mary and Archibald McArthur, of 585 15th St. E., land donated for part of St. Mary's High School. His dad owned a lumber mill in Owen Sound and died in an industrial accident when young Leo was nine years old.

“It was a very loving family but very poor,” his son said. Mr. McArthur was one of eight siblings – three girls and five boys – William (Timber), Johnny (JF), Ed, Joseph (Jay Dee), Bernice, Theresa, Leo and Louise. All but Louise have died.

Mr. McArthur grew up in Owen Sound in an entrepreneurial family. His brothers -- J.D. had McArthur Tire and the Owen Sound Greys, Johnny had McArthur Construction and Timber McArthur and his brother-in-law Al Reilly's home decorating business. Mr. McArthur was the youngest brother.

When a high school official told Mr. McArthur he should drop out of school and get his licence to drive a truck, his brothers were determined that he get an education. They pulled him out and enrolled him in St. Michael’s, a private, Catholic all-boy's school in Toronto, his son said.

Mr. McArthur's integrity, hard work and loyalty helped him to succeed, his son said. “He was an incredible entrepreneur who was actually able to make the transformation from an entrepreneur to running a successful business. It's a very unique combination of skills.”

“He was the first guy at work, he'd turn the lights on and he was the last guy leaving the building at night, he shut the lights out. Regardless of whether he was the owner, he treated everybody the same. It was his ability to respect people, respect his employees, respect his customers and to communicate with them.”

It was common for Mr. McArthur to walk around the shop floor, talking with the mechanics and others there to get the pulse of what was going on before starting his own work day. He knew most of the 4,000 employees' names and often the names of their families, his son said.

So proud was he of the Miller Group's image that he kept a billfold full of $20 bills in his car and when he noticed a clean, well-kept company vehicle, he would reward the driver with a twenty, his son said.

Mr. McArthur, who lived in King City, Ont., is survived by his wife of almost 57 years, Helen, and their children, daughter Shawneen and son Blair and their families. He also leaves four grandchildren.

While Owen Sound funeral arrangements await confirmation, visitation will take place in Richmond Hill at The Sheraton Parkway Hotel, 9005 Leslie St., Saturday and Sunday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. A funeral mass will follow Monday at 11 a.m. at St. Clare of Assisi Catholic Church, 150 St. Francis Ave. in Woodbridge. A reception will be held after mass.